Don't marry while hiding your sexual orientation, and don't treat a marriage in name only (形婚) as a convenient shortcut: legally it is a real marriage, and the only way out is divorce

Cost

Free. The hard part is holding out against family pressure to marry, which may have to be endured for many years.

What you get

Civil Code (民法典) Article 1051 provides that a marriage is void in only three situations: bigamy, a prohibited kinship relationship, and not reaching the legal marriage age. Articles 1052 and 1053 provide that only two grounds allow annulment: being coerced into marriage, and concealing a serious illness before marriage. Article 17 of Interpretation (I) of the Marriage and Family Part (婚姻家庭编解释（一）) provides that if someone asks to declare a marriage void on grounds other than these three, the court rejects the request. So the only way out is divorce. A marriage in name only, once registered, is also a lawful marriage. Article 1062 provides that wages, bonuses, remuneration for services and the like after marriage are the couple's joint property. Article 1064 provides that debts the two sign for together, or that one takes on for the family's ordinary daily life, are joint debts of the couple. Damages for divorce are governed by Article 1091, limited to bigamy, cohabiting with another person, domestic violence, abuse or abandonment of family members, and "other major fault." Article 2 of Interpretation (I) limits "cohabiting with another person" to cohabiting with a "person of the opposite sex outside the marriage." So a same-sex relationship can only be argued as "other major fault." Compensation includes damages for emotional harm; the deceived side must raise it together when suing for divorce, and if the court rules there is no divorce, it is not supported. Since the Civil Code took effect, no such judgment published by a court has been found. In the era of the old law, an article published in 2013 on the website of the High People's Court of Jiangsu Province (江苏省高级人民法院) discussed a case in which a wife sued for divorce because her husband had concealed his homosexuality. The article lists two views. One holds that homosexuality is not among the faults the law then recognized, so neither a larger property share nor emotional damages should be supported. The author agrees with the other: treat the deceived side as the "innocent party," give her consideration in dividing property, and also award compensation for emotional distress (China)

Notes

On a larger property share and emotional damages there is only one analysis article, which does not say how the case was finally decided, so whether you can get them depends on the specific court. The Civil Code adds an "other major fault" item beyond the old law, which gives the deceived side an opening to argue. The statutory text itself is grade A. When both sides of a marriage in name only have same-sex partners, the partners are not protected by marriage law, and property has to be set out in writing separately; see §10.18 (same-sex partners setting up consensual guardianship and wills). Divorce from a marriage in name only also goes through the 30-day cooling-off period or a lawsuit; see §10.15 (an agreed divorce has a 30-day cooling-off period). If you wrote a waiver of compensation into an agreed divorce, a later lawsuit will not be supported. The beneficiary is first the spouse who would be deceived, and second you: once the concealment is found out, divorce, the division of property and child custody come together.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第一千零五十一至一千零五十四、一千零六十二、一千零六十四、一千零七十九、一千零八十七、一千零九十一条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808081729d1efe01729d50b5c500bf（国家法律法规数据库）
2. 最高人民法院 (2020). 关于适用《中华人民共和国民法典》婚姻家庭编的解释（一）（法释〔2020〕22 号，第二、十七、八十六至九十条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff80808177e75f880178006736f21aaf
3. 朱来宽、王洪娟 (2013). 因同性恋导致离婚能否主张损害赔偿？江苏法院网. http://www.jsfy.gov.cn/article/26621.html

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 10, tip 19. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer